Poland aims for Iraq troop pullout by end of 2005
PARIS (AFP) - Poland said that it aims to withdraw all of its 2,500 troops from Iraq during the course of next year, a major disappointment for Washington which sees Warsaw as one of its staunchest allies in Iraq.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Monday after talks in Paris that no firm date to complete the withdrawal had been decided yet, but that Poland hoped "to finish our mission at the end of 2005."
Poland is the fourth largest troop contributor to the US-led coalition in Iraq, but there is strong popular opposition at home to the deployment.
Kwasniewski's remarks here after talks with French President Jacques Chirac followed confusion in Warsaw, where the defence minister announced the troop withdrawal only to be contradicted by other top government figures.
The president said the situation in Iraq would be different after January, when general elections are to take place, supposedly the last step in setting up a legitimate Iraqi government.
"That is the reason why we decided to speak with the Iraqis and with our coalition partners, the United States, about a reduction of the Polish forces from January 1 and maybe to finish our mission at the end of 2005," he said.
Asked if there was a firm date, he replied: "No, this is not decided."
Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski in Warsaw had already announced in newspaper and radio interviews that Poland would withdraw its 2,500 troops from the country by the end of December 2005.
But as the issue provoked controversy, he later clarified his comments made in interviews with Polish public radio and daily Gazeta Wyborcza, saying they reflected his "personal view".
Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz distanced himself from the defence minister's statement, saying Poland did not want to "betray its ally" the United States.
And in a sign of the extreme sensitivity of the issue, Prime Minister Marek Belka said he had not been consulted and would seek clarification from Szmajdzinski, the PAP news agency reported.
Until now the Polish government had only said it would reduce its military presence in Iraq in 2005.
Analysts noted that the centre-left government faces heavy domestic criticism over the Polish military presence in Iraq ahead of elections next year.
But a planned pullout by Poland will spark dismay in Washington, where US President George W. Bush is under criticism over the troubled US-led occupation of Iraq as he seeks re-election next month.
"The Bush administration is of course going to be disappointed," political analyst Krzysztof Bobinski told AFP.
In last week's TV debate with Democratic challenger John Kerry, Bush specifically mentioned the Polish contribution.
Poland sent 2,500 troops to Iraq last year in the wake of the US-led invasion and heads up a multinational division of 6,000 soldiers in south-central Iraq.
But the intervention has proven costly. Seventeen Polish nationals have died in Iraq -- 13 soldiers and four civilians -- including three soldiers killed in an attack last month near the central Iraqi city of Hilla.
According to the latest poll, more than 70 percent of Poles are opposed to the presence of their country's troops in Iraq.
Parliamentary elections are due next year in Poland, with the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) party which sent Polish troops to Iraq currently credited with only seven percent support.
Moreover, its minority coalition partner, the Labour Union (UP), has threatened to withhold its support from prime minister Belka's government in a no confidence motion on October 15 unless it gives a firm timetable for an Iraqi pullout.
"The reason is we have elections coming up next year and the SLD wants to be able to say during the election campaign this is not an issue because we are withdrawing the troops by the end of 2005," Bobinski said.